


Fearful Symmetry

by Wonderlandleighleigh



Series: The Tuna Melt-verse [4]
Category: Batman (Comics), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The West Wing
Genre: F/M, Future Fic, Gen, Kraven's Last Hunt AU, Trigger Warning: Buried Alive
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-12
Updated: 2019-07-12
Packaged: 2020-06-27 01:16:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19780255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wonderlandleighleigh/pseuds/Wonderlandleighleigh
Summary: Peter Parker is missing, and it wont' stop raining.





	Fearful Symmetry

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by the classic Spider-Man comic: Kraven's Last Hunt. Seriously, it's an incredible, if unsettling read, and a must for Spidey fans!

“I have tracked you. Like wounded prey. And I have guided you here.” 

Peter narrows his eyes inside his mask, looking around the old, empty church. “Okay, Kraven. Game’s over.” 

“I don’t think so…Peter Parker.” 

Crap. 

Something hits him over the head and he stumbles, and then something sharp buries itself into his arm, and the lights go out.

***** 

It’s a week of rain on the East Coast with no apparent let-up. 

“Something doesn’t feel right.” 

Abbey Bartlet grins absently as she removes her make-up from the day and gets ready for bed. “Are you discovering latent mutant abilities, Jed?” 

He blows out a breath as he looks out the window. “There’s just something in the air. I don’t like it.” 

“Things will look better in the morning,” she tells him. “Come to bed.” 

“In a little,” he tells her. “I’m gonna read in the study.” 

Before he can leave, there’s a knock on the door. 

“Mr. President?” 

“Come on in, Charlie,” Bartlet says, turning to the door. 

The young man looks worried. “Mr. President, CJ is here to see you.” 

Jed frowns deeply, glancing at Abbey before turning back to Charlie. “Yeah.” 

CJ steps in, soggy from the rain and looking distressed. “Mr. President, Mrs. Bartlet, I’m so sorry to barge in-” 

“Don’t apologize,” Abbey tells her, getting to her feet, looking worried as well. 

“Claudia Jean, what’s wrong?” Jed asks. 

The taller woman takes a deep breath, pushing her hair away from her eyes. “I came in as soon as I got the call, and I didn’t grab an umbrella-” 

“What call?” Abbey asks. 

“Peter Parker is missing.” 

The room goes silent. 

“How long has it been?” Jed asks. 

“Seventy-two hours,” CJ says. “No one has heard from him. The Avengers, old and new, are looking everywhere. MJ called me to ask if maybe I’d heard anything through the press pool here, which means they’re grasping at straws. I think that whatever’s happened to him, it’s really bad.” 

Jed nods slowly and leans over to kiss Abbey’s cheek. “I’ve gotta go back to work.” 

***** 

“Well, he can’t have just disappeared off the face of the earth,” Maggie says into the phone. “I mean, he could have, but we’d know about it, wouldn’t we?” 

“We’re doin’ everything we can to find him, Magpie,” her father says. “You sit tight. If you’ve got press contacts who might know a thing or two, call ‘em.” 

“God, I can’t imagine what MJ is going through. Or May. Or hell, he and Harley are practically brothers.” 

“Harley is currently tearing up New York’s underworld,” Steve tells her. “He’s pissed.” 

“I”m pissed!” Maggie cries. “God, what if he’s-” 

“We’ll find him,” Steve stops her. 

“But Dad-” 

“I’ll call you when I know somethin’.” 

***** 

“Nothing?” Tony asks as Harley lands on the ledge of Stark Tower and the AI tech starts pulling his Iron Man suit off him. 

“Nothing,” Harley growls, pulling off the half-face plate that’s left, revealing a bloody nose. “Where the hell could he be?” 

“We’re seventy-two hours in,” Pepper says sadly. 

“He’s not dead,” Harley snaps. “Don’t say it.” 

“Kid, we gotta be realistic here,” Tony says gently. “I don’t wanna believe it anymore than you. But Pete chose this life, and it’s always had risks.” 

“No way,” Harley shakes his head. “Somebody would be gloating. Kingpin, Goblin. Somebody’d be taking the credit if they’d killed him.” 

Tony takes a deep breath and grips Harley’s shoulder tightly. “Grab a shower and a clean set of clothes. I’ve got Shuri running DNA to try and locate him. We’ll regroup from there.” 

***** 

It’s so dark.

It’s so dark and he’s not sure-

He’s not sure where he is, but it’s dark and he can’t seem to move. 

Everything hurts. 

His head hurts. 

His legs. 

His arms and back and his neck.

Everything-

It’s so dark.

***** 

“You’re superheroes,” MJ snaps, looking around at Tony, Pepper, Harley, Cassie, Morgan, and Lila . “You’re Avengers. Find Peter.” 

“I promise you, we’re working on it,” Tony says gently. He taps the intercom. “Shuri? Anything?” 

“Still scanning,” Shuri says. “He seems to be nowhere on earth.” 

“Space?” Cassie asks, looking at them all. “Have we heard from Carol or the Guardians yet?” 

“Not yet,” Tony tells her. 

“Guys,” Harley cuts in, throwing the stream from his phone up onto the wall, depicting someone in a black Spider-Man costume; someone much bigger and burlier than Peter. “That’s not Pete,” 

*****   
“I heard about your uncle,” Danny says the next day in the press pool. “Any updates?” 

“Nothing,” Maggie says quietly. 

“Look, if you wanna go home...wait by the phone…?” 

“No, no, I’m here,” she says firmly. “I just-” she shakes her head. “He’s really important to everybody.” 

“Yeah.” 

“Dad always used to say that Uncle Peter was the best of them.” 

“Crazy that he got so close to everybody without even being an Avenger,” Danny comments. 

“...Yeah,” Maggie breathes out. “Crazy.” 

***** 

Why is it so cold? 

And why can’t he hear anything? 

And what’s his own name anyways? 

And why does he have a hankering for larb? 

“You know what larb is but you don’t know your own name?” he mutters to himself hoarsely. “Whoever you are, you might be a dumb-dumb.” 

He shifts and tries to move, but whatever...wherever he is, it’s too confined. 

He shifts more, and feels a solid brick-like object against his back. He pulls it out, and it’s-

“Phone!” he yelps, and turns it on. The background of his lock screen is…

It’s two people.

A little boy with a big smile. His dark hair wild. 

And a woman. 

A woman. 

Big, warm eyes. Knowing, sly smile. Curls. 

He narrows his eyes a little. 

MJ. 

“MJ.” 

He stares for a long, long moment, before jerking to life. 

“Oh, SHIT I’m Peter Parker!” he cries, his head hitting the top of -

Peter freezes again, eyes wide; frightened. 

He’s definitely trapped in a coffin. 

“What the FUCK!” 

***** 

“Whoever the hell he is, he beat the crap outta Lila ,” Harley says as he gets back into his armor. “I’m going out to take this guy down.” 

“Be careful,” Pepper warns him. “He’s dangerous. Whatever he’s done to Peter-” 

“We’ll find Peter!” Harley snaps, before taking off into the rain.

“Remind you of anybody?” Pepper asks softly. 

“He imprinted early,” Tony tells her grimly. “And hey, when I’m dead and gone, there’ll be another one of-” he stops. “We checked- everywhere ON earth.” 

“Yeah,” Pepper says. 

“Anybody check IN the earth?” 

***** 

“No sign of him out here,” Carol tells them, her image flickering. 

“He’s gotta be somewhere,” Rhodey snaps. “He can’t have just disappeared. Especially because there’s some crazy asshole wearin’ his suit.” 

“He’s not out here,” Carol says. “I’ll keep looking, but so far, bupkis.” 

“People still say bupkis?” 

“Shut up, Rhodey.” 

“Yeah.” 

“Nebula is on her way to earth,” Carol tells him. “She’s vowed bloody death on whoever hurt Parker.” 

“She’ll have to get in line.” 

***** 

“Anything?” Jason asks into his phone as he watches the rain fall against Maggie’s windows. 

“Not yet,” Bruce tells him. “I’m not getting any readings on Parker anywhere on the planet. The Avengers may have to face the inevitable.”

“We at least gotta find a body,” Jason says quietly as he glances back at Maggie, who is furiously texting on her phone. “What were his last known whereabouts?” 

Bruce pauses as he looks. 

“A church in Queens.” 

***** 

“It was a six-hour, knock-down, drag-out fight across the upper east side,” Cassie snaps as she follows Harley. 

He hobbles towards the medical bay in Stark Tower. “I had him on the ropes!” 

“I promise you that’s a lie,” Cassie shakes her head. “You’re not going back out there. Nebula is earth-bound, we’ll send her.” 

“She’ll kill the guy and we’ll never figure out what he did with Peter!” Harley cries as he slumps onto an exam table as Bruce steps up. 

“Keener, you gotta calm down,” Banner tells him. “We’ll find Peter, and in the meantime, you need some serious patching up.” 

“How’m I supposed to calm down?” Harley asks, bewildered. “Peter’s gone. Nobody knows where he is. That’s my best friend. That’s our field leader!” 

***** 

MJ finds Tony in his office at Stark Tower, looking at an old photo. 

Himself. Peter. Harley. All three of them dressed in tuxedos, at some fancy charity event or another. Like a father and his sons. 

“We’ll find him, MJ,” Tony says softly, knowing that she’s standing in the doorway. “I won’t stop until we do. Neither will the team.” 

She takes a shaky breath. “What if he’s gone?” 

“He’s not,” Tony tells her. “I can feel it.” 

***** 

“Where. Is. My. Nephew.” 

It’s practically a snarl, and Pepper doesn’t flinch. She closes her eyes. “I wish I knew, May. We’re working on it.” 

“He’s been gone for four days!” May cries. “You’re not working hard enough.” 

“We have, literally, everyone on it,” Pepper tells her. “We’re doing the best we can.” 

May looks like she wants to scream, or burst into tears, but she does neither. 

She just storms out.

***** 

Peter isn’t sure how long he’s been down here. 

Or how long it takes to get out. 

He pounds on the coffin lid hard; as hard as he can, and after he doesn’t know how long, it cracks. 

Gotta get out.

Gotta get out.

Gotta get back to MJ.

Gotta get out. 

It cracks loudly, and he flinches at the sound, and suddenly, he’s covered in gravedirt and rain. It gets in his eyes and mouth and he coughs and struggles and tries to yell. 

***** 

“Boss-” 

“No.” 

“Tony.” 

He shoves the ephemera from his workbench and spins around, his hands resting on the back of his head. “No, Happy. I don’t wanna talk about this.” 

Happy Hogan looks down, rubbing at his eyes a little. “I don’t want to talk about it either. Nobody wants to talk about it. But we might have to. It’s been nearly a week.” 

“Just...a little more time, Happy,” Tony says as he sits back down. “A little more-” 

“Oh my god, I’ve found him.” 

Tony nearly falls off the stool at Shuri’s voice. “Where?! Where the hell is he?!” 

“St. Adelbert’s Church, in Queens,” Shuri says. “In the graveyard.” 

***** 

“You’ve come back,” Kraven the Hunter chuckles. “I only let you know so you would know that I killed you.”

He shakes with weakness and with rage.

“And now, little Spider...we end this.” 

“Aw, jeez,” Peter huffs as he stumbles through the graveyard. 

***** 

When they find him, he’s teetering. Fist held up, Kraven unconscious at his feet, crazed look in his eyes.

“Pete?” Harley asks carefully. 

He gets out one word before his eyes roll back and he hits the soft ground. 

He says “MJ.”

***** 

He feels soupy. Like he’s swimming in syrup. 

And he’s not quite sure how to find his way out. It’s no longer dark, but unbearably bright.

And he sees so many things. Everything is so loud. 

Blurry images at first. People gazing down at him lovingly. He can’t make out their faces. 

“Perfect little Peter.” 

Uncle Ben. Gripping his shoulder. 

“Pete, with great power-” 

Tony’s voice. 

“And I wanted you to be better!”

His own voice. 

“Mr. Stark? I-I don’t wanna go.” 

“No,” he croaks out. “No, not that.” 

He looks down at his hands and they start to turn to dust. 

“No no no, not again. No! Tony?! May?! Happy?!” 

He can feel the dust. But it’s not dust.

It’s gravedirt. 

“MJ!” 

***** 

Harley grips Peter’s shoulders tightly as he shoots upright, yelling out for MJ. 

“Peter, it’s okay!” Harley cries. “It’s okay. You’re here. You’re fine. It’s over.” 

MJ dashes in, shoving Harley off the bed and putting herself in his place. “Hey. Hey. Parker.” She cups his face. “Peter. Look at me. Open your eyes.”

Peter’s eyes stay closed as he keeps muttering to himself at a fast pace. 

“Not again not again I don’t wanna go not like this not again.” 

“Kid.” 

It’s Tony’s voice. 

“Pete, it’s okay now. We won, remember? Bruce snapped his fingers and brought you back. And then you saved my bacon. You remember?” 

He breathes hard, and finally, finally manages to open his eyes. 

Everything still hurts. 

But Tony, Harley and MJ are right in front of him. 

And when he looks down, his hands are just where he left them.

“Oh,” he croaks out. “Oh god.” 

***** 

“Buried alive?!” Bartlet snaps, shock in his voice. 

“I don’t know if you wanna know,” Leo tells him grimly. “It was bad. It took nearly a week to find him.” 

“But he’s okay?” 

“Leave of absence,” Leo says. “He needs time, and so does his family.” 

“I can’t even imagine,” Bartlet shakes his head. “Any way for me to sneak out? Go see him?” 

Leo shakes his head. “Not for another couple of weeks.”

Bartlet grimaces. “That kid saved my life from Luthor.” 

“We’ll send him a card,” Leo promises. “And CJ is gonna go check in, too.” 

“Yeah.” 

***** 

“Special delivery.” 

Peter looks up and grins a little. “Hey, Maggie.” 

She smiles sadly and steps in, holding a hot dog. “I smuggled you in some lunch.” 

“Aw, awesome,” he grins, laying back against the pillows. “Thanks.” 

Maggie sits down, biting her lip. “So.” 

“I’m okay, Maggie.” 

“You’re probably not.” 

“I will be,” Peter promises. “The worst of whatever drugs Kraven gave me are out of my system, and I’m healing up real good. You’ll see. I’ll be back on my feet in no time.” 

She nods and hands him the hot dog. “How did he get the drop on you like that?” 

Peter frowns deeply, holding the food without eating it. “Figured out who I was. Studied my patterns. Followed me everywhere. Which is probably why they call him Kraven the Hunter.” 

“Well, nobody calls him that anymore, cuz Nebula killed him.” 

Peter blinks and then squeezes his eyes shut. “I gotta have a talk with her about proportionate responses.” 

“He buried you alive.” 

“Avengers don’t kill.” 

“She’s not an Avenger.” 

He absently takes a bite out of his hot dog.

“What happens now?” Maggie asks.

He chews thoughtfully, and sighs after he swallows his bite. “Now? Well, between Kraven impersonating me and the security cameras in the graveyard, there’s not much point in having a secret identity, is there?” He glances at her. “How would you feel about an exclusive?” 

END


End file.
